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AMA celebrated a huge milestone in 2016. Last year, it reached $1 million in total scholarship money awarded. In honor of this achievement, Model Aviation is highlighting some of the recipients of these funds.

Early Scholarship Recipient

Robert “Bob” Hanford was one of three modelers who received scholarship money in 1971. He was awarded $500, which he used to earn a bachelor of science in civil engineering from Oklahoma State University.

“It paid most of my first year’s tuition—how times have changed!” Bob said of the scholarship. He applied for an AMA scholarship when he was a senior in high school.

“It was a tremendous help. My parents divorced about that time, and weren’t able to help with college expenses.”

After participating in the 2016 Free Flight Nats, Bob said that he competed in his first Nats in 1964 when he was 11 years old. His father, a member of the 1949 US Wakefield Team, taught him how to build and fly at the age of eight.

Bob’s aeromodeling experience has aided him in his career as a licensed professional engineer, and in his current position as a manager of a civil/structural engineering company. “The aeromodeling background definitely helped—knowing how to read and prepare drawings, spatial relations, strength of materials, and direct structural applications as I had experienced in modeling,” he commented.

AMA awarded its first scholarship in 1970. To learn who else received a scholarship in the early years of the program and to read the extended interview with Bob Hanford, click here.

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